


I couldn’t operate on you either

by Witchgirl1234



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28363689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witchgirl1234/pseuds/Witchgirl1234
Summary: Claire is forced to reveal her relationship with Morgan Reznick when she is asked to perform surgery on her
Relationships: Claire Browne/Morgan Reznick
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	I couldn’t operate on you either

**Author's Note:**

> Major disclaimer about the symptoms for appendicitis I used in this fic, I have no idea if they are even close to right, just need it to fit the story lol
> 
> So this is my first attempt at writing for this fandom and I'm not sure if I have the characters down or not so please forgive me if they are OOC at all
> 
> I do have six other one shots I have already written, so please let me know if you would be interested in reading those and I'll get them typed up and published :)
> 
> Also, I always accept prompts you can find me on tumblr @Breznick-sq

Dr Claire Browne would have never imagined that she would ever find herself in this situation, but as her lips moved against those of the woman pinned underneath her, she couldn’t really find it within herself to care how unlikely this situation was.

It had been a long day and all she wanted to do was to make out with her girlfriend.

Claire allowed her hand to fall down to Morgan Reznick’s waist but instead of pulling her closer as the blonde usually would, she let out a little hiss which caused Claire to lean back with concern written across her features.

She lightly placed her palm on the spot again and Morgan winced again.

“Are you okay?” Claire asked, though she didn’t move off the other woman’s lap.

“Just cramp,” Morgan replied and pushed herself up a little with her hands still on Claire’s waist, “It’s been a long day,” she added and closed the distance to place a peck to Claire’s lips.

Claire hummed in agreement, taking the opportunity to savour the kiss.

As much as Morgan made it clear that she was ready to go to HR whenever Claire was, she was still willing to wait until the other doctor was ready to go public. Her only condition was that they remained exclusive to which Claire had no objections.

This meant that Claire got to work with her girlfriend all day, but she couldn’t so much as smile at her lovingly without either Melendez or Park picking up on it. Maybe Shaun too, depending on whether he was focusing on facial expressions that day.

So it was times like this that she had to really take in the fact that Morgan Reznick of all people was her girlfriend.

Claire raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “are you sure that it’s just cramp?”

Morgan nodded with a smile that showed those damn dimples and Claire sighed in mock exasperation.

Dr Browne reached up to swipe some blonde locks behind her girlfriend’s ear and they were silent for a couple seconds.

Claire was about to suggest that they should just watch a movie after Morgan stretched or something, but she was interrupted by the familiar buzzing that often cut these moments short.

Morgan groaned and her head fell back against the chair while Claire reached over to grab her phone from the side and raised it to her face after she answered it.

“Hello?” she said.

“Doctor Browne, sorry to call you back in but there’s been a huge pile up on the highway, we could really use extra hands in the ER,” Dr Lim explained.

“Yeah no problem, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Claire replied, and tried not to chuckle when Morgan rolled her eyes with a slightly audible groan.

She clicked to hang up the phone and was about to tell her she had to go, but she was interrupted again by another buzzing and Morgan held out her hand, looking very resigned.

Claire handed her the other phone and just waited for her girlfriend to get the same request from the Chief of Surgery.

S

Six hours later, things in the ER had started to calm down, but predictably, Dr Melendez’s residents were gathered around the table looking at scans of a particularly unusual case.

“Amputation is the only safe option,” Claire insisted.

“Sophie will never be able to play the violin again, she will definitely ask for another option, shouldn’t we at least try to think of one?” Morgan argued.

Dr Browne glanced at the other woman and had to restrain herself from taking her hand.

This case was clearly bringing up memories of the flesh eating bacteria one. She’d said being in that chamber with the patient had been one of the toughest things she ever had to do.

“We could replace the damaged bone,” Shaun inputted and they all turned to the man who was currently staring into the air, no doubt mentally exploring her patient’s anatomy.

A few more minutes of discussion, the team (plus Dr Lim) had decided to take Shaun’s idea to the patient.

The residents stood at once to go and speak with the patient, but Dr Reznick stumbled slightly as pain shot through her right side and she clutched the table for balance.

Claire had the strong urge to step up beside her girlfriend to steady her but she managed to resist by shoving her closed fists into the pockets of her white coat.

“Dr Reznick?” Audrey asked, “are you okay?”

Morgan cleared her throat and blinked a couple times as she willed the dizziness and pain to go away. 

Throughout the six hours, she had done everything to ignore the pain. 

It wouldn’t look good to be the only resident to flake out of the crisis.

To be fair, it hadn’t been too hard to ignore the symptoms considering how busy it had been.

She opened her mouth to say that she would be fine if she had some calories, however, as she pushed herself from the table at the same time and she felt herself stumble.

The doctor hit the ground, but she was already unconscious before her head hit against the carpet. 

“Morgan!” Claire announced and slid to the ground next to the unconscious woman. She did a few quick checks before she ran her hand over the blonde woman’s forehead.

Melendez frowned at the reaction from Dr Browne and exchanged a look with Dr Lim.

They both seemed to forget about the weirdness when Claire announced, “she’s burning up.”

This seemed to jolt all of the doctors into action as they began the process of paging a nurse for a gurney to take Morgan to a room where they could actually do a real examination.

In the chaos, none of them heard Claire mumble, “please be okay, Morgan.”

S

A few tests later confirm appendicitis which was advanced enough to require surgery as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, Morgan was in the right place for that.

“Of course, dear, I give permission for any necessary treatment,” Caroline Reznick said on the other side of the phone, “could you please update me as soon as possible?”

Claire decided not to mention that the artist didn’t once offer to leave her retreat early to come and see her daughter. It was the dysfunctional relationship that she and Morgan had in common.

In fact, it was probably why they went from colleagues to something resembling friends (who happened to sleep together).

To be fair though, Morgan’s mother did sound genuinely concerned and she had been assured and it was a routine procedure.

“Of course Ms Reznick, I will make sure you’re updated,” Claire replied.

“Thank you,” the artist said and clicked off the phone.

Claire blew out a breath and gave herself a moment to stare over through the window to Dr Reznick’s room where she currently lay unconscious.

Apparently the infection was pretty bad. Even though it was a simple surgery, it was still surgery and there were always a million things that could go wrong.

She couldn’t lose another person she cared about, especially when she spent their relationship refusing to go public.

“Dr Browne, have you gotten permission from Caroline?” Dr Lim asked. 

Claire swallowed hard, hoping that the tears she felt in her eyes hadn’t fallen down her cheeks and she looked away from Morgan’s sleeping form and up to the Chief of Surgery. 

“She said we have her permission to do whatever is medically necessary,” Claire replied.

“Good,” Lim said and leaned against the nurses and blew out a breath, a pile up followed by a sick resident was not a good day, especially when paired with staffing issues, “the surgery has been booked in a couple hours, Park and Murphy are assisting Melendez, could you prep Dr Reznick for the procedure?”

Claire should have said ‘no’ there and then.

She should have admitted that there was a pretty big conflict of interest here.

She knew that if Dr Lim had any other residents available, she wouldn’t ask one of Morgan’s team members to assist with the procedure but the service was stretched pretty thin as it was.

Dr Lim didn’t know that she was asking Claire to prepare the woman she loved for surgery though.

 _It’s a simple procedure,_ ran through Claire’s mind as she nodded and replied, “of course, Dr Lim.”

s

“Just cramp,” Claire muttered as she finished writing down the observations onto Morgan’s chart.

She then looked up at Dr Reznick’s face, fully expecting her to retort that it wasn’t her fault that she had a high pain threshold.

Unfortunately, the doctor’s eyes remained glued shut which wasn’t really all that surprising considering all of the pain meds that she was currently on.

She watched as Morgan took in a few more breaths before she glanced behind her to make sure that no one was watching before she leaned down to place a kiss to her forehead. 

“I love you, you idiot,” she whispered close to Morgan’s ear and a few seconds passed before there was a knock at the door.

“Dr Browne, OR Two is ready for the procedure, Dr Lim said it’s time to scrub in,” the nurse announced.

Claire just nodded and said, “thank you, I’ll be right there.”

The nurse inclined her head before she came in to start the process of taking Morgan to the OR.

Claire allowed herself one more glance at the patient until she forced herself to start walking towards the OR.

She made it to the scrubbing-in area, though it must have been through pure muscle memory since she spent the entire time what it would be like to witness her girlfriend flatline on the table.  
“Hey,” Dr Lim called from the sink where she was finishing washing her hand.

_It’s a simple procedure._

_It’s a simple procedure._

Those words ran through Claire’s mind as she stepped up to start the process of washing away all of the bacteria on her hands.

Bacteria that could infect her girlfriend. Cause sepsis or some other antibiotic resistant infection.

Or maybe even more than one at once.

“Dr Browne?”

Claire swallowed hard and realised that she had just been holding her hands in the sink without turning the water on.

Audrey tilted her head at the younger surgeon and said, “you know, Dr Browne, this would be a good opportunity for you to lead a surgery.”

Claire closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek.

The images in her mind changed to her standing on the other side of the table holding a scalpel while the heart monitor flat-lined.

There was absolutely no way that she could live with that.

She couldn’t even imagine what her therapist would suggest to cope with that.

_It’s a simple procedure._

_It’s a simple procedure._

_It’s a simple procedure._

_Even simple procedures can go horribly wrong._

With a heavy sigh she turned to face the Chief of Surgery and said, “I’m sorry Dr Lim but I can’t be part of this surgery.”

Audrey drew her eyebrows together and replied, “I know the circumstances aren’t great, but we’re Dr Reznick’s best chance right now…”

“Morgan is my girlfriend,” Claire blurted out.

Dr Lim clamped her mouth shut as every objection fell away.

They were definitely not _that_ under-staffed.

Her first instinct was to ask why they had hidden it, why hadn’t Claire at least revealed the truth when Dr Reznick had passed out.

But then it occurred to her that she probably would have done the same if it was Neil who passed out back when they were hiding their relationship from their colleagues.

Could she have performed surgery on Melendez?

“Do you feel able to assist Dr Melendez’s case or would you prefer to wait for news?” Dr Lim asked.

A lot of questions ran through her mind, chief among them was how could that relationship possibly work. She couldn’t imagine any two people who were so unlike.

Then again it wasn’t like she would have thought that she and Neil would work as well as they did.

She was also pretty sure that there were a number of questions she should ask as her boss, but judging by the expression of worry on Claire’s face, this was not the best time.

She resolved to just talk to the two residents when they were both conscious.

“I...should be okay to assist Dr Melendez,” Claire replied, though a little reluctantly. She wasn’t sure whether it would be better to wait alone or in another OR. Either way she would be thinking about Morgan.

However, she had enough experience focusing on surgery when her personal life was a mess so she figured that she could do it again. The question was, which of her colleagues was about to hate her guts?

“Ask Park to come and assist with Dr Reznick’s procedure and I’ll send an update as soon as there is one,” Dr Lim replied.

Dr Browne searched the older woman’s face, expecting shock? Disappointment?

It definitely felt like the wrong decision to lie about everything. Honestly, she couldn’t even remember all of the reasons why she wanted to keep it a secret right now.

“Okay, thank you Dr Lim,” Claire mumbled and moved to leave, but she was stopped by the Chief of Surgery placing her hand onto her arm.

Claire’s steps faltered and she looked back up to Audrey.

“I’ll do everything I can for Morgan, Claire,” Dr Lim said softly.

Claire visibly relaxed at the words and she actually smiled at her.  
“I know...thank you, Dr Lim,” Claire replied.

Audrey offered her one last smile before she released the resident’s arm and watched her go.

When the door closed, she looked down at the hand and it hit her that she had just contaminated it in pursuit of being compassionate with a tired sigh, she started the process of scrubbing-in again. 

S

Morgan groaned as the familiar sound of beeping entered her consciousness.

The unfamiliar part of it was waking up to that sound.

She opened her eyes slowly as her mind went through all of her symptoms she had earlier convinced herself she could power through.

Pain.

Dizziness.

Probably a fever.

With a heavy sigh, she muttered, “appendicitis.”

“Yep.”

The doctor forced her eyes to open further to find Alex Park stood at the end of her bed jotting down notes onto her chart.

“Appendectomy?” Morgan asked, already feeling the pain medication wearing off or at least the drowsy part of it.

Park nodded and looked up from the chart to his patient.

“Yep,” he said again, “the surgery went perfectly with no complications, you should be fine after two weeks rest. I’m sure Dr Browne will be able to get at least a few days off with you…”

“Why would Claire…” Morgan trailed off when she saw the smirk playing across her colleague’s face and her eyes widened a little. 

Park snorted at the pure shock on Morgan’s face and moved to place the chart at the end of the bed.

“I’m really impressed I didn't figure it out before, you know? Secret couples usually drop so many hints without realising it,” Park admitted, though he was now considering the lingering smiles and unnecessary touches that he hadn’t thought much of before since the idea of Morgan Reznick and Claire Browne falling in love felt so improbable.

“How did you find out?” Morgan sighed, she wasn’t too bothered about people knowing, but Claire had made it clear that she wasn’t ready for the scrutiny yet.

She just wanted to enjoy their relationship for a while longer before they started thinking about the implications of everything.

Park tilted his head and replied, “she had to tell me why I had to switch cases, it was a pretty hard sell until she told me you’re together.” 

Morgan just scoffed but she did smile a little as she did so.

If Claire couldn’t assist in a simple surgery then she must really care right?

“Ugh, you’re going to be disgustingly in love now, aren’t you?” Park sighed.

If she was more awake, she was sure that she would come up with a retort, but she just rolled her eyes and made no attempt to deny his words.

A light tap at the door caused both doctors to look over to find Dr Browne in her street clothes holding a teddy bear embroidered with ‘Get Well Soon’ on the heart it was holding.

The woman looked very much unsure of herself but Morgan pushed herself up with a bright smile as she said, “hey.”

Park smirked and looked between the pair as she said, “I’ll be back in an hour to check on you Reznick.”

With that he slipped out of the room and Claire tilted her head at her girlfriend before she said, “I spoke to your mom, she asked that you call her when you wake up.”

“I’ll get right on that,” Morgan deadpanned.

“She did sound genuinely concerned, Morgan,” Claire replied.

Morgan sighed but nodded before she gestured towards the chair beside her.

Claire pushed herself off the doorframe and came over to slip into the plastic seat.

The pair sat in silence for a second before Claire thrust the bear towards her with a heavy blush playing across her cheeks. Keeping their relationship a secret for so long meant that this didn’t feel as natural as it should have been. 

“I know it’s stupid but I figured I should get you something,” Claire rambled.

“It’s adorable, thank you,” Morgan replied while she took the bear from her. 

Claire took a second to inspect the blonde doctor’s face for any signs of post-op complications but she relaxed a little when she saw only her girlfriend smiling at the bear.

“Why didn’t you tell me you felt sick? When you passed out I was so...scared that you...,” Claire finally blurted out.

“Hey,” Morgan said to stop her from talking before she reached out to grab her hand and continued, “I’m okay, I really didn’t think it was anything serious. I was too busy to think about.”

“You’re still an idiot,” Claire shot back, though she did squeeze the other woman’s hand.

Morgan hummed in agreement and replied, “I promise I’ll tell you next time I need to have my Appendix removed.” 

“Idiot,” Claire muttered again and pulled her chair a little closer.

Morgan took a second to look at their joined hand and said, “I’m sorry you had to tell them the truth, I know you weren't ready…”

“Well...if I didn’t tell them, I couldn’t do this…” Claire replied and punctuated her point by leaning forward to place a kiss to her cheek, “we do need to go to HR when you’re better though.”

“That will be fun,” Morgan huffed. It was honestly one of the reasons she had been so willing to wait to go public with their relationship.

“We’ll probably never work together again,” Claire added.

“At least you won’t have to work with an idiot,” Morgan replied, smirking even though she was a little disappointed at the revelation that she wouldn’t be able to work with her girlfriend anymore “although, there’s always Park.”

“Very funny, Reznick,” Claire swaid and lightly swi[ed at her arm.

They just smiled at each other for a few moments and Morgan said, “you know, I couldn’t operate on you either.”

“How romantic,” Claire replied, but she still smiled broadly and added, “I love you too, Morgan.”


End file.
